Slumped in a wheelchair, the white-headed thespian shared few details of his health condition with University of South Alabama medical students unless they asked him pointed questions.

He smokes and has high blood pressure. He can no longer afford his pricey medications. He is unable to walk. He drinks but only moderately.

Under such exercises, played out in a small exam room, physicians-in-training get 15 minutes to collect a medical history from patients played by local actors. It’s a way of prepping them for the real world.

As students queried Davidson, Dr. Carol P. Motley, director of medical education for USA’s family medicine program, watched through a two-way mirror, warning with a quick knock when time was almost up.

“We need to know he can talk to a patient,” Motley said, nodding toward a male medical student trying to glean details from Davidson.

“Patients don’t want to feel like a number,” she said. “You’ll gather more data, and they are more likely to comply and follow, through if you develop a relationship.”

While it’s essential to piece together a medical history, good doctors know that there may be much more to learn. “If you don’t realize what’s going on in a patient’s life, you won’t take care of them as well. You may miss important facts,” Motley said.

Third-year medical student Ross Hewlett said he was glad to have a chance to practice his people skills. “It’s trying to build patient interaction; trying to teach us how to interview and elicit the correct information,” he said.

Following the exercise, both students and faculty members review and critique videos of the sessions.

The use of “standardized patients” dates back to 1963 when a University of Southern California professor came up with the idea to use them to test neurology clerks. Years later, a 2004 ruling required all U.S. medical school students to practice their craft in this way.

Some local actors earn about $25 an hour for their services at USA. They receive training and are given scripts to follow.

Davidson, who directs performances for the Joe Jefferson Players in Mobile, fills out thorough paperwork about each experience immediately afterward.

“I write extensive notes,” he said. “Some convince you they could start tomorrow. Sometimes you think, ‘Maybe they should go into research.’”